The bee visits a flower.
When the bee arrives on the flower ,it
sucks up some of the nectar with a little
straw (a proboscis), which is built into
its mouth. Most flower nectars are like
sugar water; there is a little sugar
mixed with water.
The bee stores the nectar in a
special stomach they have and
flies back to the hive.
When the bee arrives at the
hive, another bee sucks the
nectar out of its stomach and
puts it into a hexagonal cell.
The bees help the water in
the nectar to evaporate by
flapping their wings at the
nectar.
Once the moisture content is right, the
bee produces a wax from under its
abdomen and seals/caps the cell so that
the honey doesn't come out.
Interestingly, bees also make sure the
cells at an angle so that the honey
doesn't pour out!
Once all the cells are 'capped',
the beekeeper removes the frame
and uses a hot knife to remove the
wax
.
Then the frame is put into an
extractor, which spins so that all
the honey comes out.
The honey falls to the bottom of
the extractor and is drained into
another container. It is now ready
to be out into jars and spread on
our toast, without any added
ingredients!